Great Famine of the Late Yuan

Timeline

1. 1340–1343Jianghuai basin · Huai River basinIn the early Zhizheng years the Jianghuai region first suffered severe drought, then localized flooding; grain output fell, famine victims appeared, and local authorities opened granaries for relief on a limited scale.
2. 1344Lower Yellow River · Yellow River basinThe Yellow River breached at Caozhou and Baimaokou, flooding vast farmland in Henan, Shandong and Anhui; the disaster victims numbered in the millions, and combined with the earlier drought produced severe famine.
3. 1345–1349Various places in North China · North ChinaFamine victims fled in large numbers, seizing grain along the way and gathering as bandits; plague spread with the refugees, and Yuan court relief and tax remission measures could not stem the deterioration, sharply escalating social conflict.